Syntex Corporation

company

About

Syntex is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of pharmaceutical products and medical diagnostics systems.

Details

Industries
Health Diagnostics,Manufacturing
Operating Status
Active

Syntex Corporation is a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in 1944 by Russell Marker to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yams called cabeza de negro (Dioscorea mexicana) and Barbasco (Dioscorea composita).


Syntex chemists synthesized cortisone from diosgenin, a phytosteroid contained in Mexican yams. This synthesis was more economical than the previous Merck & Co. synthesis, which started with bile acids.


Syntex was integrated into the Roche group in 1994.